Pro-life activist arrested for praying silently near an abortion facility

A charity volunteer was arrested after she told police she "might" be praying silently when they asked why she was standing on a public street near an abortion facility, according to a report from Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce, the Director of the UK March for Life, was standing near the BPAS Robert Clinic in Kings Norton, Birmingham in an area ADF UK called a "censorship zone," when police approached her after an onlooker complained she might be praying outside the abortion facility the report said. Birmingham's authorities established a buffer zone around abortion clinics, which makes it illegal for an individual to engage in any act or attempted act of approval or disapproval as it relates to abortion and includes "verbal or written means" like "prayer or counseling."

This is so strange. I would have thought that anyone approaching a law enforcement official and saying, "You see that person there? I think she's praying." would have been met with, a question like "How can you see a person, and know what they're doing in their mind?"

But now some can punish you for silent introspection.

However, she did say something provocative to the police: "Vaughan-Spruce has stood near the abortion facility while it was closed three times and said she "might" have been praying, according to ADF UK." Well there it is, the definitive proof that it isn't about the law... she "might" have been praying. You have photographic evidence that she stood there, not talking to anyone - and she "admitted" that she may have been praying.

Not out loud mind you, not talking to anyone. Alone.

"It’s abhorrently wrong that I was searched, arrested, interrogated by police and charged simply for praying in the privacy of my own mind," Vaughan-Spruce said following her arrest. "I was exercising my freedom of thought, my freedom of religion, inside the privacy of my own mind. Nobody should be criminalised for thinking and for praying, in a public space in the UK."

"My faith is a central part of who I am, so sometimes I’ll stand or walk near an abortion facility and pray about this issue," she added. "This is something I’ve done pretty much every week for around the last 20 years of my life. I pray for my friends who have experienced abortion, and for the women who are thinking about going through it themselves."

Well to all my friends in the UK, it's official... I would say something about it being a clown world. but the point needn't be belabored.

a reply to: Maxmars

Arrested for being Christian.

I saw a guy kneeling on a rug in a parking lot, with head to the ground last month. No doubt he was praying.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Maxmars

Arrested for being Christian.

Arrested for going out of her way to make that officer's day more interesting. She could have picked literally any street but she just couldn't resist being an example.

Recently there was a topic about a gay journalist being arrested and dying in jail in Qatar. The general response on this forum was basically "play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

Now we know what that shoe looks like on the other foot.

I envy people who think we still have a two-party system and the Republican congress will work to stem the depravity sweeping not only America, but nearly the entire western world.

History tells us the countries most susceptible to collapse are the ones that have lost their moral compass. I think were close....

This is prophecy.
Believers in Christ will be persecuted.
Those that stand strong in the face of such persecution shall be blessed.
Believe it.

originally posted by: TzarChasm

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Maxmars

Arrested for being Christian.

Arrested for going out of her way to make that officer's day more interesting. She could have picked literally any street but she just couldn't resist being an example.

Recently there was a topic about a gay journalist being arrested and dying in jail in Qatar. The general response on this forum was basically "play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

Now we know what that shoe looks like on the other foot.

Your comparison is totally defunct .

"Censorship zones" and laws "which make it illegal for an individual to engage in any act or attempted act of approval or disapproval".

#MakeOrwelFictionAgain

A generalized response:

- The event in this report happened in Great Britain, not the United States.
- She had been taking the same route for 20 years - allegedly. Photographic evidence confirms that at least in part.
- She is presented as a pro-life activist. Presumably this is true.
- The Abortion clinic was never open at the times cited the report, or ostensibly by the police.
- She admitted that she prays often (knowing people of strong faith, I think it's a reasonably credible assertion)
- The law which she is accused of breaking is premised on the idea that any expression or statement about the abortion issue is forbidden within the "zone" of the clinic. To successfully prosecute her it must be affirmed that her silent presence represents a violation of the law.

As a strategy to incite a police response (presumably for publicity) the idea of praying silently until someone 'catches on' seems unlikely, in my opinion. It presumes that you could ever prove that she was praying.

I wonder if they would arrest the Pope? Or would he be allowed the privilege of diplomatic immunity?

I find it disappointing that this topic may be derailed with meme gimmickry. Political hyperbole.

originally posted by: TzarChasm

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Maxmars

Arrested for being Christian.

Arrested for going out of her way to make that officer's day more interesting. She could have picked literally any street but she just couldn't resist being an example.

Recently there was a topic about a gay journalist being arrested and dying in jail in Qatar. The general response on this forum was basically "play stupid games, win stupid prizes."

Now we know what that shoe looks like on the other foot.

I don't understand your comparison. Being openly gay in Qatar is a massive risk. Maybe we just have higher standards for places that claim to be "free"

If she said she was just thinking about how she disagrees with abortion should she still be arrested?

If I was religious I'd prey anywhere I freaking choose

I can understand how a business that is operating under the law wouldn't want loud crowds intimidating clients or patrons, but a single person out on the street that isn't speaking, not holding a sign, not making any gestures, just silently praying to their deity of choice and getting arrested in a "censorship zone", that one has to go to court.

Yeah, it was an activist, and probably one trying to push the limits to see how far she could take it, well I guess now she knows how far they will take it when you even look like you are thinking about praying. Now you have to admit she was asking for it by saying she might be praying and should have said something like she was telepathically communicating with the universal mind and it was a private conversation that they have interrupted. Then again, that might get her a trip to the nut house instead of jail, better to have said nothing and let them try to read her mind I guess. That is next isn't it? To make it stick, they'd have to prove what the accused was thinking. How else can they get a conviction?

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

You know what I think about this? An effective policeman would have said "Move along."

The "person who alerted the police" should have been told "Go to the police station and file a complaint'."

No press, no angst, no snarky exchanges... just "Move along."

a reply to: Maxmars

Just because she was praying silently near the facility doesn't mean her prayers were related to activities of said facility. She could have been praying for rain, or for her friend who is sick, or safe travels for a loved one on an intercontinental flight. WTH???

a reply to: TzarChasm

gay journalist being arrested and dying in jail in Qatar.

are you talking about Grant Wahl ? because he wasn't in jail when he died

The 49-year-old Wahl died after collapsing in the press box during Friday’s quarterfinal match between Argentina and the Netherlands.

source

a reply to: new_here

I suppose that things are very different between the British and American juris prudence.

Not being anything remotely resembling an attorney, I won't hazard a guess.

But I suspect that if she is asked "What were you praying about?" invasive as the question is, she may have the option of saying "That's none of your damn business." Which locks down a strong defense. On the other hand, she could 'exploit' the opportunity to link the abortion issue to this openly... but I think that wouldn't be legally prudent. But hey, as I said, I'm no lawyer. I wonder about this being prosecuted by the Crown.

originally posted by: new_here
a reply to: Maxmars

Just because she was praying silently near the facility doesn't mean her prayers were related to activities of said facility. She could have been praying for rain, or for her friend who is sick, or safe travels for a loved one on an intercontinental flight. WTH???

Yes, this is why the accused would have to have their mind read so that it could be admitted as evidence that they where thinking of praying in the unapproved manor. Otherwise, it would have to be this woman speaking without the advice of an attorney that she should have now that she has gotten herself arrested.

a reply to: ketsuko

pretty much.. but then its the orthodox statists looking for things to be angry about as they know their state is on its last legs.

ironically in recent months I've seen a rise in Christian graffiti from zero to everywhere..

they think that they'll create these pure establishment mini me kids when what they are doing is creating all new dissenters who'll oppose the orthodoxy of the state they worship.

its one of the reasons i frame what is happening as part of a new reformation.. these are all new dissenting sects.. it was the same in my youth the British Communist Party tankies we had as teachers ended up creating a bunch of capitalists.. in the same way the pathological hatred of Christians will create dissenting Christian sects..

a reply to: MichiganSwampBuck

there is a huge problem in store for those who believe that in arresting/jailing/punishing all dissenting voices they'll create some kind of utopian compliance when in reality they'll fall into in the same trap the likes of Thomas Moore and Bishop Bonner did.. you can't punish, torture or even burn people into being obedient sheep... in doing so you create a backlash that lasts for generations.

its really reminiscent of my childhood in the 70s uk, compelled speech leads not to compliance but to dissent..

In todays world we see that with covid vaccines, testing and masks.. we see it with the teachers thinking they can circumvent parental controls by forcing kids to overrule parents, that ended in the UK with schools then schools in entire regions rejecting compliance as an option.

interestingly youth suicide rates where spiking up to that point, but past that point youth suicides declined back to normal levels (NHS data), a clear line was reached as the orthodoxy over stepped the mark and created a bunch of dissenters that spread quicker among the kids than it did the adults..

wit teachers rejecting parental control they've created a situation where 28% of junior and 40% of secondary's schools poor are missing from schools.. and thats the scale of dissent they've already managed to create.. around here the anarchist/Satanist/anti tory/anti monarchy/ graffiti has morphed into anti WEF/pro Christian graffiti..

we move into a world where being pro Christian is the anti-establishment view.. so I suspect we'll see more get themselves arrested as the police devolve into a dogmatic religious police..

there is a price to the cultural dogmatism the establishments dogmatics will be paying for generations..

a reply to: nickyw

just to qualify the numbers there are 7m school kids the England of which some 1.5m where consistently absent during the 21/22 terms.. this has increased year on year..

teachers you can't preach to empty pews.. it really shows how deeply the current establishment on the left and the right have lost the room and how far removed todays police are from the real world.

I told you there comes the day, we all wished wouldn't come...
could it be she had an police order on the property already? Maybe known prolife activist. Sometimes they get locked out of certain zones in cities. One thing is for sure the police did not go against the law, but she most propably did.

So yes play stupid games win stupid prizes, and no flip flops won't help...